The Life We Knew
by pIcKinGBloOdyrOSes
Summary: "It came seconds later, like a shooting star, but bigger and grander. It was nothing compared to the size of the moon, but still the biggest thing I'd ever seen in the night besides it. It shot through the evening and everyone cheered at the blazing white trail it left behind... and then it hit the moon." USUK. Oneshot. Apocalypse!AU.


_A/N: This was an entry in my "Somewhere Over the Bookshelf" story, which I deleted because I felt like all the one-shot's could stand alone. This was written almost two years ago, but I revised and edited it, added and subtracted a few things, and now I feel like it can be published again!_

_I did this in an attempt to help my horrible writing block, which has literally lasted since June, and I have eight story requests promised that I haven't filled...! Gah, well, I'm inspired to write again, so hopefully I'll start pumping those out (I've already got like three nearly completed)._

_This takes place in Susan Beth Pfeffer's "Life as We Knew It" universe. I don't own the idea, or the characters in this story, merely the story-line! Seriously though, go read this book, it's wonderful._

_This story CAN ABSOLUTELY BE READ ALONE._

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**Warnings: Mild kissing/fluff, talk of the apocalypse. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Hetalia" or "Life as We Knew It".**

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**The Life We Knew**

_May 18_

People started showing up at our house at about six in the evening, exactly as planned. It was great- in less than fifteen minutes, pretty much the entire high school's sophomore class, the neighbors, and a few other miscellaneous people were all laying beach towels on our front lawn, popping open sodas and chips while Mom and Dad manned the grill. It was like summer had come early, and I loved the smell of burgers and hotdogs being cooked over the charcoal, the crickets chirping as the sun slowly began to sink in the sky and the stars began poking out.

I leaned on the railing surrounding the deck and looked up into the sky; the moon was just beginning to shine brighter, the crescent shape illuminated as the sun sank over the horizon. I was really excited- I mean, how often is a meteor going to smash into the moon? I knew that it happened all the time, but NASA said that we'd actually get to see it, and that was just awesome.

"I suppose this only further illuminates your ambition to become an astronaut," I looked from the purple stained sky and saw Arthur standing a little bit away, his hands on the railing. He wasn't looking at the sky, but at me, and I saw the amusement in his green eyes. "Oh Christ, it does, doesn't it?"

"Aw, c'mon!" I immediately rushed over, swinging myself up to sit on the railing, leaning forward to stare up close into his face. "Just think about how cool it would be! To be weightless and see Earth from waaaay up in space? It'd be flying and swimming and... and loads of other stuff at the same time!"

"It's also terrible space food that comes in packets," Arthur told me, pushing my face away from his teasingly. "Nausea, homesickness, and constant working out to keep your bones from shrinking."

"Adventure!" I crowed, grabbing his shoulders and spinning him around to face away from me and look into the sky. "Exploration! New, exciting discoveries!"

"Zero gravity," Arthur retorted, leaning back against my chest and gazing at the stars. "No contact with your family. Pissing in a tube."

I laughed and rested my chin on his head, wrapping my arms around his torso. I didn't really expect Arthur to get my fascination with space- his head always stayed with his feet; planted firmly on the ground (it didn't stop me from being totally and completely gay for him, but whatever). "You're just gonna miss me when I go on the first ever manned voyage to Mars."

"I will not," Arthur retorted. "Because by the time you get back, I'll have an extraordinarily handsome partner, several adopted children, and I'll have written more than one best-selling novel."

"Who's gonna be _your_ partner?" I asked, poking his cheek. "Wait! I know... you're gonna hook up with what-his-face from that show 'Sherlock', right? The guy you have a poster of under your bed?"

Arthur flushed. "W-Well, at least I'll have a partner! You'll only have your left hand when you're all alone up there..."

"I'll bring an alien back with me," I offered. "I'll name him Tony."

"Ton- why would you name an alien 'Tony'?"

"It's a cool name!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and I saw Mom looking at us out of the corner of her eye, smirking slightly. I shot her a look and she only smiled wider, wagging her finger in my direction as she went inside the house to get more paper plates. Arthur followed my look and grinned at me. "Your mum is charming as always."

"Shuddup..." I muttered. I had to have on the weirdest mothers on the face of the planet- Mom not only supported me in my coming out, but wholeheartedly encouraged it. It was like she made a consistent effort in pointing out how long I had "followed after Arthur like a puppy" before I asked him out, often making jabs right in front of him of how much I talked about him and shit. "She's crazy."

We eventually found Mattie and his girlfriend camped out with some folding chairs on the deck. I liked Camille a lot, and she was always completely okay with whatever Arthur and I did around her like we were any other straight couple, so when he sat down on my lap as the clock ticked closer and closer to nine thirty, I didn't mind when she whispered something in French to Matt and they shared a grin while shooting the two of us a 'look'.

"How much longer?" I whined shamelessly, bouncing a little in my seat, Arthur giving me a glare as his perch was dislodged slightly.

Matthew flipped open his phone to the check the time. "Any minute now."

We all stared at the dark sky. The people around us had long since settled down, and now the air was quiet, only whispers and the crickets sounding aloud. We were all craning our necks and I remembered that I had left my binoculars inside and cursed myself for not getting them sooner, but it was too late- if I moved now, I could miss it.

It came seconds later, like a shooting star, but bigger and grander. It was nothing compared to the size of the moon, but still the biggest thing I'd ever seen in the night besides it. It shot through the evening and everyone cheered at the blazing white trail it left behind. I laughed, completely awestruck, knowing that this was something incredible and amazing and I was here to see it in person.

And then it hit the moon.

We were all expecting it of course, but it was weird to see something that we all knew and were familiar with from the moment we were born to just… well, get hit with an asteroid. A great cheer went up from the people on our lawn, applauding and hugging each other. Camille kissed Matthew on the cheek, and I saw some people on my football team on the lawn high-five. I turned to Arthur, grinning and maybe hoping for a kiss too, but his face was still turned towards the sky and I suddenly felt his nails digging into my arm.

Someone screamed.

I looked back at the moon, only it was different. It wasn't a half-moon anymore, it was three-quarters, and it was tilted all wrong, angled differently. And it was getting closer, staying in the same spot, but swelling until it was far, far too big in the sky, so close that you could see the craters clearly and defined, like you were looking through a telescope. It was still the moon, but it was unfamiliar. Big. Huge. I stared at it, disbelieving.

And then everyone was screaming.

Camille's eyes were as big as dinner plates, and she kept saying "Oh my God, Oh my God" over and over again. Matthew had stood up, his glasses askew, and he was gaping at the moon like he'd never seen it before. In truth though, none of us had ever seen it. Not like this. I stood up too, gripping Arthur's shoulders tightly. People were shouting and yelling and I even saw a few people drop to their knees and begin to pray. Mom and Dad were trying to keep order, but everyone was running around, scrambling for their family and their things and their cars. I swore that I even heard someone singing "Amazing Grace".

Camille's parents found her and then she was gone, leaving Arthur, Mattie, and me. We all looked at each other, not wanting to look at the giant in the sky. Without a word, we raced inside.

Dad was already there, fumbling with the TV in the living room. There was nothing but static. Not even CNN was coming on.

"What happened?" I asked, even though it was a ridiculous question. No one knew what was happening. "Dad?"

"Maybe you should tell us that," Arthur told me. His face was paler than usual, but he kept his voice steady. "You're the space expert."

Mom walked in, her face ashen. "Everyone's leaving. John, turn that off, there's not going to be any television. Matthew, get the radio, sweetie. Alfred, grab some chips and popcorn from the kitchen. Arthur, honey, sit down."

I loved how Mom could be the coolest and most calm out of all of us. I ran to the kitchen, slipping a little on the tile floor, but grabbed all the snacks I could fit in my arms before running back to the living room. Matthew and Dad were fiddling with the radio dial- they couldn't seem to get any of the New York stations, but eventually got Philadelphia. Mom sat on the couch with Arthur, who seemed to be trying to call his parents back home in England, but the lines were dead. I dumped the food on the table and sat next to Arthur, taking his hand. He squeezed me tightly, and gave me the most frightened look I've ever seen him wear.

At first, the radio didn't seem to be able to tell much more then what we already knew. The moon had been hit, but NASA had miscalculated. A bulletin came on before the astronomer could speak, and we turned on the TV, able to get reception now.

"Are you sure? Has that been confirmed?" The newscaster was pale- he must have heard the news through his earphone, and he waited a moment before turning to the camera.

Mom hugged Matthew close while Dad simply sat and stared. I held onto Arthur's hand tightly.

"We are receiving reports of widespread tsunamis," the newscaster said, his voice breaking slightly. "The tides. As most of you know, the moon controls the tides. And the moon, well, whatever happened at nine o' seven this evening- and we don't know just what really did happen, but whatever it was- the tides were affected. Yes, yes I got that. The tides seemed to have swelled far beyond their normal boundaries. The reports coming in are from people in airplanes who happened to be flying overhead at the time. Massive flooding had been reported all over the eastern seaboard. There had been some confirmation of this, but these reports are preliminary. Sometimes you hear the worst and it doesn't prove that way at all. Wait a second."

I glanced at my family. Mom was biting her nails and Dad's mouth was open wide. I knew that he had business partners on the eastern seaboard.

"All right, we are getting some confirmation," the newscaster said. "There are confirmed reports of tidal waves twenty feet or higher in New York City. All power there has been lost, so these are very sketchy reports. The tides don't seem to be stopping. AP is reporting that the Statue of Liberty had been washed out to sea."

Matthew gasped and I felt my heart wrench as Arthur's eyes met mine. This seemed so trivial now with the people out there dying but...

~oO0Oo~

"_Hey Artie?" I opened my eyes as his lips ran over my jaw and sighed lightly. "Mmm... can I ask you a question?"_

"_You just did," Arthur murmured, letting out a small hum of approval as I ran my hands along his chest. "But you may ask another..."_

"_If I asked you to marry me one day, would you?"_

_Arthur opened his eyes, sitting up a little from straddling my waist. I kept my hands on his hips, though I looked away, a bit embarrassed. "... Why would you ask that?" he finally said, cupping my face and turning me back to look at him._

"_Well, I was just thinkin'..." I muttered, flushing. "I tell ya all the time that I love you and I really do... so maybe, one day...?"_

_Arthur thought about this for a moment before leaning back down over me and pressing his lips to mine softly. I kissed him back, raising my hands up over his spine and bringing him closer. For a moment, my thoughts were lost in Arthur's touch, and I could feel his hot breath on my lips as he pulled away while I blinked dazedly._

"_I think that if the time is right," Arthur said, running his hand through my hair. "And if you bought me a bunch of bloody expensive flowers... and a wedding band... and it was somewhere extremely romantic... you have a fifty percent chance of me saying yes."_

"_Only fifty?!" I exclaimed, frowning as he laughed._

"_Sixty, if the flowers are roses," he kissed my nose. "Seventy if you take me to dinner beforehand."_

_I raised an eyebrow and seized the opportunity to flip us over so I was on top of him, my hands on either side of his head as I kissed down his neck. _

"_I'll take you to see a show on Broadway," I mumbled around his soft skin. "And then we'll go to an expensive flower shop and you can get all the flowers you want... and then I'm going to take you on a boat ride to the Statue of Liberty and we're going to go all the way up into her crown..."_

"_And then...?" Arthur was enjoying the little scenario as much as I was- I could tell._

"_And then I'll get down on one knee..." I sat up and took his hand. "And I'll take your hand like this... reach into my pocket... and I'll bring out a little black box... and by then you'll know what I'm going to say right?"_

"_Tell me what you'll say," Arthur's eyes shone in the dim light of my bedroom. "Word for word."_

"_I'll say," I heard my voice get low, and I looked right into his beautiful eyes. "'Arthur James Kirkland, I've loved you since the sixth grade, when you first came to school with that awesome accent and holding that humongous book of King Arthur legends. I promise that no matter what, I will always be there for you, and we'll protect and support each other. I'll be your hero if you let me, Arthur. So... will you marry me?'"_

_I lifted his hand and kissed his ring finger._

"_... you silly boy," Arthur whispered, wrapping his arms around my neck and bringing me __down so our lips were centimeters apart. "Of course I'll say yes."_

~oO0Oo~

"We're getting an unconfirmed report that all of Cape Cod has been flooded," the newsman said. "Again, this is unconfirmed. But AP is reported that Cape Cod-" and he paused for a moment and swallowed- "that Cape Cod had been completely submerged. The same seems to be true of the barrier islands off the Carolina coast. Just gone."

I wrenched my gaze away from Arthur and focused on the TV again.

"All right. There is confirmation of massive damage to Miami. Many deaths, many casualties. There's no way of knowing the number of deaths. Communication satellites are down. Telephone lines are down. We're trying to get an astronomer from Drexel to come to our studio and tell us what he thinks is happening, but as you can imagine, astronomers are pretty busy right now. All right. We seem to be getting a national feed again, so we're cutting to our national news bureau for a live update."

The NBC anchorman came on the TV.

"We're expecting word from the White House momentarily," he said. "Early reports are of massive damage to the all the major cities on the eastern seaboard. I'm coming to you from Washington, D.C. We have been unable to make contact with our New York City headquarters for the past hour. But here's the information as we have it. Everything I am going to tell you has been verified by two sources."

I realized that all five of us were sitting on the couch now. Dad had his arm around Mom, who had Matthew pressed into her other side while her hand came around to squeeze my knee. Matthew was next to me, trembling, his hand holding onto mine, while I had my arm around Arthur while he had my other hand in a vice-like grip. We were all waiting with baited breath to see what was really happening.

"New York City has suffered major damage," the anchor said. "Staten Island and the eastern section of Long Island are completely submerged. Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard are no longer visible. Providence, Rhode Island- in fact, most of Rhode Island- can no longer be seen. The islands off the coast of the Carolinas are gone. Miami and Fort Lauderdale are being battered. There seems to be no letting up. We've now had confirmation of massive flooding in New Haven and Atlantic City. Casualties on the eastern seaboard are believed to be in the hundreds of thousands. Naturally it is far too early to tell if that number is excessive. We can only pray that it is."

And then suddenly, the President's face was on the screen.

"I am broadcasting you from my ranch in Texas," the president said. "The United States has suffered its worst tragedy. But we are a great people and we will place our faith in God and extend a helping hand to all who need us."

Arthur scoffed. "That man is full of shit."

We all laughed because that was just an Arthur thing to say.

"It's late, boys," Mom said, turning off the TV. "I think all of us should go to bed."

I wasn't exactly tired, but I nodded along with Matt, who kissed Mom goodnight and gave Dad a hug before disappearing up the stairs, attempting to send texts with his cell phone. Arthur and I stood next, and I gave Mom her kiss and fist-pumped Dad. Arthur said his goodnights and we followed Matthew up the stairs.

I paused at the top and took Arthur's hand he was staring at the carpet, eyes dull. "Hey... sleep in my room tonight."

"Your mum doesn't like it when we do that," Arthur pointed out the obvious. Because he did live here and all as an exchange student, but we were dating, Mom had laid down some ground rules, supportive of our relationship or not. "You know that."

"Tonight's different," I said firmly. "Go get in your pajamas and I'll wait for you, okay?"

Arthur hesitated before nodding and disappearing in his room. I quickly went into my own and pulled on a t-shirt and sweatpants before turning on my clock radio and tuning into the news. I wasn't going to be sleeping tonight; I knew that much, so I might as well hear what was going on.

Arthur came in after a few minutes, shutting the door behind him and then crossing over to my window and closing the curtains.

"I don't want to look at it," he muttered at my questioning look. "It's... too big."

I understood and he crawled into bed with me, lying down on his side. If we ever did share a bed together, we usually spooned, but this time he turned to face me, and I realized that he wanted to see my face... and I wanted to see his. I wrapped my arms around him and he put his hands against my chest.

We were quiet as the radio talked about the damage done in the US.

"_... unconfirmed disappearance... Hawaii... other news as parts… Alaska are... decimated..."_

I stared into Arthur's eyes.

"Those islands..." he whispered, and I saw the fear he hadn't been willing to show in front of my parents flit in his green depths. "... islands are gone, Alfred. They're gone..."

"I know."

"_... we're unsure of the predicament... nations across the world... communication remains down..."_

"Alfred... E-England is an island..."

I wrapped my arms tighter around him and he buried his face into my chest, gripping my t-shirt in his small hands. I always loved his hands... they were small for a boy, but that meant I could hold them in mine perfectly. "I don't know what's going to happen, Arthur. I don't know, but I'm not gonna let you go, okay? I'll be here."

I felt Arthur shaking, and I knew he was crying. "... g-git... you and your s-stupid hero c-complex..."

"_... unconfirmed reports... submerged... Australian cities... Holland... to... destroyed..."_

"Turn it off," Arthur pleaded after a moment. "Please, Alfred. Turn it off; I don't want to hear anymore."

I obeyed and the silence that followed was almost worse than the terrible things being broadcasted. "I'm glad you're with me, Arthur. If you were in England and I didn't know what had happened to you..."

"I know," Arthur placed a kiss on my jaw. "I would be even more scared as well."

We held each other that night, eventually falling asleep in each other's arms. Everything around us changed that night and nothing was ever, ever the same.

Life as we knew it was no more.

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_A/N: Drop a review? :D_

_Also, I had "Camille" in here for two reasons: 1) she is the Hetaverse incarnation of a friend and 2) I had originally planned in the first draft (which was multiple chapters) to have them break up and then put in some Prucan or Franada._

_I hope you enjoyed!_


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